BRISTOL NATURALISTS' SOCIETY. 
SECTIONAL MEETINGS. 
From the Bristol Daily Post of August 2ndt 1865. 
i Botanical Section, June 9th.— By the permission of 
Sir William Miles, the members, with several friends, met 
jthe president, Mr, Leipner, at the Suspension-bridge, for 
the purpose of investigating Leigh Woods. Proceeding to 
jthe top of Nightingale Valley, the open ground appeared 
jcarpeted with a profusion of the bright flowers of Heli- 
lanthemum vulgare, interspersed with patches of Erica 
Tetralix and Thymus Serpyllum. Veronica officinalis was 
plentiful, as also Potentilla Tormentilla and Galium sexatile. 
Proceeding through the woods by the path skirting the top 
of the rocks, but few plants of interest were found in flower, 
themostworthy of notice beingTamus com munis and Bunuim 
iflexuosum, also the bright little Lysimachia nemorum, and 
[Daphne laureola was seen in fruit; among the Filices was 
Blechnum boreale. The party at length arrived at 
ithe marshy ground lower down the river. Here was found 
ja solitary late flower of the beautiful Menyanthes trifoliata, 
while the scarcely less handsome Viburnum opulus was 
more abundant. The Orchidacese were represe"hted by some 
fine spikes of Listera ovata and Orchis maculatura. In the 
more marshy part of the ground Equisetnm palustre was 
found in fruit, and in the valley were the handsome fronds 
of Lastrea Filix-mas, and less commonly L, spinulosa. 
Asplenium trichomanes and Ceterach officinarum were 
growing plentifully in an old wall. Passing down the 
valley the party arrived at the river side, returning by the 
towing-path. Glaux maritima was very plentiful upon 
the mud, and a few plants of asparagus officinalis were seen. 
Lithospermum arvense, Galium cruciatum, and Reseda 
tluteola were also found, and the abundance of Conium 
jmaculatum in one spot was noticed, though scarcely yet in 
{flower. 
Botanical Section, June 23.— On this occasion the 
imembers of the section accompanied their President, Mr. 
jLeipner, on the Port Railway as far as Shirehampton, the 
object being to explore the Prior's Wood, near Portbury. 
Crossing the river, the party proceeded through Pill and 
St, George's to Portbury, finding in the fields and lanes 
jthrough which they passed many plants of interest. In one 
place a species of the singular genus Orabanche was found 
in great abundance, parasitic upon the roots of Trifolium 
repens, and Papaver Rhseas and Anthemis nobilis 
made the ground brilliant with their showy flowers. 
After passing Portbury, the party entered a lane leading 
I to the wood, which presented at every turn scenes of 
sylvan beauty much resembling the lanes of Devonshire ; 
the high banks on either side covered with luxuriant vege- 
